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October 24, 2010
Services
Friends may visit with the family on Wednesday, October 27, 2010 from 2-4 and 7-9 PM at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Rd., Wayne.
Funeral services will be held 8:30 AM on Thursday, October 28, 2010 from the funeral home then to Our Lady of Consolation RC Church, Wayne where at 9:30 AM Funeral Mass will be offered.
Interment will be in Christ the King Cemetery, Franklin Lakes.
John Joseph Birkner age 73 of Wayne died peacefully on October 24, 2010 with the comfort of his family by his side.
He was born in Paterson where he lived, having lived in Clifton before moving to Wayne in 1969.
John was a United States Army Veteran having served from 1961 – 1963.
He graduated from Don Bosco Technical High School, Paterson with the Class of 1957. He attended the Rochester Institute of Technology for one year.
John’s first job was helping his father in the family confectionery store in Clifton having later helped in the family’s second store a delicatessen in Paterson. He later worked at the Rocco Press, Paterson before working for the DeLuxe Check Printers, Inc., Mountain Lakes for thirty eight years before retiring in 1997.
John was dedicated to his Catholic faith having been a parishioner of Our Lady of Consolation RC Church, Wayne. He was one of the first Eucharistic Ministers having served the parish for over thirty years. He was a member of the Seniors Club of the church and was a volunteer for the Worldwide Marriage Encounter through the Paterson Dioceses.
He was a Boy Scout in his youth and served on the Troop Committee of Troup 134 at Our Lady of Consolation Church, Wayne. He became a Scout Master in 1982 and received the following Scouting awards: St.George Emblem & Bronze Pelican Award both RC religious awards. He also received the advanced Scout training award, Wood Badge in 1990.
He was a member of the Golden Age Circle of Wayne, the Wayne Adult Community Center, and the Rockaway Neck First Aid Squad, Parsippany (1965-68). John was also a Master Gardner having served with the Agricultural Extension Service of Rutgers University.
John enjoyed fishing at Lion’s Head Lake in Wayne and would often be surrounded by children yelling “here comes Mr. B” as he would make his way to the lake. He would help kids with baiting hooks, taking off fish and helped to give them an appreciation of fishing.
The story of how John met the love of his life, Dorothy Tkach, is a long one. It seems John and Dorothy’s parents knew each other in Czechoslovakia before emigrating to the United States. Once in the States the family’s had some contact but not too much. It wasn’t until John was in the Army and his aunt included Dorothy’s name, address and a bunch of stamps in a letter to John. John remembered meeting Dorothy years earlier but wasn’t sure about writing to her out of the blue. He placed her contact information with his belongings and forgot about it. It wasn’t until he had spent all his money and was bored enough to clean out his trunk that he found her address and the stamps. He again questioned whether to contact her and even queried fellow soldiers to see if it was a good idea to write to Dorothy. They said go for it and he did. Dorothy was dating a man at the time she received the first letter from John and asked her friends if she should correspond. They said yes she should, what could it hurt, he was thousands of miles away. He corresponded for a couple of years even sending flowers from Hawaii and a purse and other items from Japan. Dorothy soon received a letter from John saying he was coming home. She was no longer seeing the other gentleman but was a little nervous about meeting John after so many years. They married at St. Mary’s Church, Pompton Lakes on November 6, 1965 and honeymooned at the Elbow Beach Surf Club in Bermuda. They have enjoyed forty five years of loving and devoted marriage. Just this past summer the entire immediate family took a trip to Bermuda.
Surviving are his loving wife Dorothy (nee Tkach) Birkner; devoted father of Jeffrey Birkner of Belleville and Sharon Kelly and her husband Joseph of Pompton Lakes; cherished grandfather of Ryan and Evan Kelly; loved brother of Rose Kumalac of Wayne; much loved uncle of Rosemary Kumalac of Toms River and Thomas Kumalac of Salt Lake City, UT.
In lieu of flowers memorial donations to Eva’s Village, 393 Main St., Paterson, NJ 07501 of the Wayne First Aid Squad, PO Box 293, Wayne, NJ 07470 would be appreciated.
If you would like to send a private condolence directly to the family use this condolence section.
Friends may visit with the family on Wednesday, October 27, 2010 from 2-4 and 7-9 PM at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Rd., Wayne.
Funeral services will be held 8:30 AM on Thursday, October 28, 2010 from the funeral home then to Our Lady of Consolation RC Church, Wayne where at 9:30 AM Funeral Mass will be offered.
Interment will be in Christ the King Cemetery, Franklin Lakes.
October 24, 2010
Services
Friends may visit with the family on Wednesday, October 27, 2010 from 2-4 and 7-9 PM at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Rd., Wayne.
Funeral services will be held 8:30 AM on Thursday, October 28, 2010 from the funeral home then to Our Lady of Consolation RC Church, Wayne where at 9:30 AM Funeral Mass will be offered.
Interment will be in Christ the King Cemetery, Franklin Lakes.
John Joseph Birkner age 73 of Wayne died peacefully on October 24, 2010 with the comfort of his family by his side.
He was born in Paterson where he lived, having lived in Clifton before moving to Wayne in 1969.
John was a United States Army Veteran having served from 1961 – 1963.
He graduated from Don Bosco Technical High School, Paterson with the Class of 1957. He attended the Rochester Institute of Technology for one year.
John’s first job was helping his father in the family confectionery store in Clifton having later helped in the family’s second store a delicatessen in Paterson. He later worked at the Rocco Press, Paterson before working for the DeLuxe Check Printers, Inc., Mountain Lakes for thirty eight years before retiring in 1997.
John was dedicated to his Catholic faith having been a parishioner of Our Lady of Consolation RC Church, Wayne. He was one of the first Eucharistic Ministers having served the parish for over thirty years. He was a member of the Seniors Club of the church and was a volunteer for the Worldwide Marriage Encounter through the Paterson Dioceses.
He was a Boy Scout in his youth and served on the Troop Committee of Troup 134 at Our Lady of Consolation Church, Wayne. He became a Scout Master in 1982 and received the following Scouting awards: St.George Emblem & Bronze Pelican Award both RC religious awards. He also received the advanced Scout training award, Wood Badge in 1990.
He was a member of the Golden Age Circle of Wayne, the Wayne Adult Community Center, and the Rockaway Neck First Aid Squad, Parsippany (1965-68). John was also a Master Gardner having served with the Agricultural Extension Service of Rutgers University.
John enjoyed fishing at Lion’s Head Lake in Wayne and would often be surrounded by children yelling “here comes Mr. B” as he would make his way to the lake. He would help kids with baiting hooks, taking off fish and helped to give them an appreciation of fishing.
The story of how John met the love of his life, Dorothy Tkach, is a long one. It seems John and Dorothy’s parents knew each other in Czechoslovakia before emigrating to the United States. Once in the States the family’s had some contact but not too much. It wasn’t until John was in the Army and his aunt included Dorothy’s name, address and a bunch of stamps in a letter to John. John remembered meeting Dorothy years earlier but wasn’t sure about writing to her out of the blue. He placed her contact information with his belongings and forgot about it. It wasn’t until he had spent all his money and was bored enough to clean out his trunk that he found her address and the stamps. He again questioned whether to contact her and even queried fellow soldiers to see if it was a good idea to write to Dorothy. They said go for it and he did. Dorothy was dating a man at the time she received the first letter from John and asked her friends if she should correspond. They said yes she should, what could it hurt, he was thousands of miles away. He corresponded for a couple of years even sending flowers from Hawaii and a purse and other items from Japan. Dorothy soon received a letter from John saying he was coming home. She was no longer seeing the other gentleman but was a little nervous about meeting John after so many years. They married at St. Mary’s Church, Pompton Lakes on November 6, 1965 and honeymooned at the Elbow Beach Surf Club in Bermuda. They have enjoyed forty five years of loving and devoted marriage. Just this past summer the entire immediate family took a trip to Bermuda.
Surviving are his loving wife Dorothy (nee Tkach) Birkner; devoted father of Jeffrey Birkner of Belleville and Sharon Kelly and her husband Joseph of Pompton Lakes; cherished grandfather of Ryan and Evan Kelly; loved brother of Rose Kumalac of Wayne; much loved uncle of Rosemary Kumalac of Toms River and Thomas Kumalac of Salt Lake City, UT.
In lieu of flowers memorial donations to Eva’s Village, 393 Main St., Paterson, NJ 07501 of the Wayne First Aid Squad, PO Box 293, Wayne, NJ 07470 would be appreciated.
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